Art and Craft

Here are some crafts we made with common items you can find at home. I have a big box that I store toilet rolls, empty containers and boxes, and scraps.

(1) Flower craft for a friend's granny's 100th Birthday.

Material:
* red and green felt cloth (left overs from a Christmas craft I did last year)
* large ice-cream stick (we always have a pack of these in our art & craft drawers)
* small paper plate (always available in our art & craft drawers too)
* crayons or paints

(2) Flower in a pot for JJ's teachers on Teachers' Day

Materials:
* same as the flower craft above, plus
* toilet roll
* small yoghurt plastic container
* coloured transparent sheets

Use a pen knife to make a slit on the toilet roll so as to insert the ice-cream stick.
Then place the toilet roll with the flower craft in the yoghurt container with coloured transparent paper.

(3) Binoculars - you can easily change the colour transparent sheets for different effects.

Materials:
* toilet rolls
* piece of twain
* coloured transparent sheets
* 2 rubber bands
* 1 paper fastener
* paint

(4) Photo frame

Materials:
* Ice-cream sticks
* plastic board or card board (we used left overs from a plastic board)
* jewel sticks (we have left overs from the mosaic art we did) or any other stickers for decoration
* glitter glue (JJ loves to squeeze these tubes and they do have nice effects)
* piece of twain (I found pieces of painted twains JJ used for painting some time back and they come in handy now :))

Colouring AGAIN?

"What are we going to do today?" JJ asked enthusiastically.
"Let's do some colouring! Yeah!" as I tried to make it sound fun and interesting. "Look what we've got today! Crayon rocks! You can colour with these"

He was curious about the crayon rocks and hence sat down promptly and started to play and scribble with them. His interest only lasted for less than 3 minutes. I can even count the number of strokes he made with the crayon rocks. I failed again! I have tried markers, crayons, pencils, pens and chalks to no avail.

I have always knew that JJ dislike colouring and am pretty relaxed about it because he is only turning 3yo later this year. Why the rush? But peer pressure seeped in and I got even more anxious when his teacher expressed concerns on his colouring skills.

What can I do to make him interested? It seems like it is an activity that most kids enjoy. Well, in Sunday School and most kids events, there will be colouring activity, fully supplied with nice colourful crayons/pencils and stacks of colouring sheets or craft. Surely these prove that COLOURING is a very popular activity, doesn't it?

In the earlier days, though disappointed with the suggested activity, JJ would still sit down with other kids, meddle with the colouring supplies, observe his surrounding, scribble a little and then wondered into his own little world. These days, he will tell me straight away that he doesn't want to join.

In this picture, you can see that while all the other kids are busy colouring their masks, JJ is cutting papers in a corner instead. His mask, laying on the floor, did have some scribbles after much persuasion from me.

Yes, JJ is just not ready. The more I push, the more he will resist. I should try other fun ways to strengthen his pencil grasp, and maybe he will surprise me one day.

He loves painting. I just have to come up with different ideas to get him to use the paint brush instead of his hands. Painting on toilet rolls seems to be the most effective. He is able to focus longer and finish all the paint work.

In the process of doing crafts with JJ, I  also found out that he likes to squeeze the glitter glue tube. I reckon this is good finger exercise for him and hence created more opportunity for him to use them :)

However, I admit that on some days, I couldn't resist trying my luck to get him to colour. "JJ, let's do some colouring!" :)

Life Cycle of Butterflies

Couple of weeks ago, I received a call from Carol and she said that she is intending to get caterpillar kits from a local farm to teach her kids butterfly life cycle and asked if I am interested to get one too. It was a brilliant  idea! I recently covered this topic with JJ and even did some craft work with him. This kit came just in time to refresh his memory, and the best part  is being able to witness the transformation. I am not a fan of creepy crawlies but I soon grew to love them.


The caterpillar kit, consists of 2 fat caterpillars in a plastic container with a mesh cover, a handful of fresh leaves to feed the caterpillars and simple instructions.


I was nervous the first time I opened the kit to change the base paper, clear out the poop and feed them fresh leaves (Those 2 very hungry caterpillars sure can EAT and..well..POOP lots too). All went well with hubby's help and we left them in a cosy corner for them to continue their munching and crunching. Also, accompanying them are the craft work done by JJ (with my help of course ;))

One of them formed into a Chrysalis 2 days later! I happened to be checking them and saw one of them wriggling and then finally shed its skin and antennae for the last time. What a treat. I was a happy and excited  Mummy. It took another 3 days for the 2nd caterpillar to change into a chrysalis.

Later, I found out that this species is known as Leopard Lacewing. The caterpillars feed on the leaves of the Passion Flower Plant, of the genus Passiflora. 


The Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane) is a species of heliconiine butterfly found from India to southern China (southern Yunan), and Indochina. Its range has expanded in the last few decades, and its arrival in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, including Singapore, is relatively recent. ~ Wikipedia

Our first Leopard Lacewing emerged from the Chrysalis! JJ was delighted! Ever since the caterpillars formed into chrysalis, he had been telling me everyday "Mama, it will change into a butterfly TODAY!" He finally got his wish.

This kit has been very educational and fun, even for myself. In my attempt to teach JJ, I learn and grow together with him. Invaluable!